Editing Chronicle Legion:Volume 3 Chapter 6 (section)

===Part 2===

Back to the second tutelary fort, Suzaku Gate.

The great phoenix of the Four Gods guarding this fortress was already gone.

However, the hundred-odd Crusades stationed here by the Black Prince were still around, currently fighting the coalition force of Centuriae and Kurou Hougans.

They had probably received orders to stay in the tutelary fort and continue to draw the enemy's attention.

At this rate, things should be fine.

Relieved, Shiori decided to change the subject.

"...The oblique order is an ancient Greek tactic."

The Tōkaidō side had set up a simple tent as a temporary camp on the lawn inside the tutelary fort.

Shiori was sitting on a foldable chair in the tent with a blanket over her lap. Activating the master-servant enchanted ritual had depleted her stamina greatly.

Fortunately, she remained conscious and was still able to use noetic control.

Currently, she had sent reconnaissance yatagarasu to observe the showdown between Masatsugu and the Black Prince.

The battle situation was projected into the air for a live broadcast. On the screen, Tachibana Masatsugu had ordered the Legions to enter an oblique formation.

"Back then, the mainstream tactic was to deploy troops in phalanxes with wide ranks of equal depth. However, Epaminondas, the commander of the city state Thebes, deliberately used a much deeper phalanx on the far left and succeeded in defeating a Spartan army of twice their number."

"Winning when outnumbered two to one!? That's amazing!" Hatsune's eyes glimmered brightly, very impressed. "But what I don't get is why it's a 'formation in a diagonal line'!"

"By concentrating elite troops on the left, the left side inevitably advances ahead. If the center and the right fail to keep up, the scattered forces would be subjected to either a frontal breakthrough or defeat in detail."

Consequently, the soldiers in the center and the right, which are advancing slightly slower, must follow the elite troops in the left&mdash;Shiori drew a diagonal slash in the air to explain.

"From overhead, it looks as though a diagonal line has been drawn on the battlefield from the top left to the bottom right."

"Princess, if Onii-sama knows this kind of sure-win tactic, that means he might be from ancient Greece!"

"This is undoubtedly impossible."

"Y-You don't have to reject my idea so decisively!"

"The essence of oblique order is not about 'drawing a diagonal line' but 'concentration of force on one side to be employed skillfully.' When deploying troops with this principle in mind, one would naturally choose similar formations."

After explaining the tactic in detail, Shiori added, "This has nothing to do with a commander's identity, geographic origins, or era."

"Oh I see now."

"On this occasion, it just happens to resemble oblique order, that is all."

"I get what you mean now, Princess. But from the tone in your explanations... Why do I get the feeling you already know Onii-sama's origins?"

"Is that so? I had no intention of insinuating that."

Hatsune pointed out the heart of the matter straight away, startling Shiori.

Acting as though nothing had happened, she hid her true feelings very naturally. After observing Masatsugu's behavior for a while now, Shiori had come to her own conclusion.

However, she had no evidence. It was not yet time to announce her findings at the current stage.

It was imperative to focus on the battle at hand to reach a swift conclusion, so that they could hurry to Tachibana Masatsugu's aid as early as possible&mdash;

"By the way, Hatsune, Masatsugu-sama also mentioned that your power is absolutely essential to this battle. You must prepare yourself, alright?"

"Yes, Princess!"

"I shall muster my greatest spiritual powers... to foil Prince Edward's calculations."

Shiori knew roughly what the Black Prince was thinking.

He intended to defeat the two Resurrectees of Tachibana Masatsugu and Wei Qing at the center of Hakone before moving on, successively visiting the four tutelary forts in the four cardinal directions, to defeat the Roman-Tōkaidō coalition forces.

Hence, he had ordered the Legions stationed at the various tutelary forts to stick to defense.

Conversely, Shiori's side had to do the opposite.

They must swiftly defeat the defense forces at the four tutelary forts then head over to aid the Tachibana-Wei coalition force in the center, to encircle the Black Prince&mdash;

Fujinomiya Shiori was the key to this battle plan.

Taking a deep breath, she focused her noesis again.


Back to the sky over Mount Souun...

Masatsugu's Tōkaidō-Roman coalition force versus Edward's British army.

Facing each other, separated by several kilometers, the two armies finally moved forward. If they were to continue advancing like this, they would enter melee range.

Naturally, the two armies started by exchanging gunfire.

Capable of firing at a rate of ten shots per second, the bayonet rifles kept shooting, again and again.

Each side consisted of a great army, a thousand and two hundred strong. This implied a total of two thousand and four hundred rifles discharging scorching beams, producing a curtain of gunfire.

White protective barriers neutralized the endless beams.

The glow coming from both armies was precisely their means of survival. Unfortunately, many beams remained potent, striking the winged giant soldiers in their armor or body, puncturing them directly.

In this rifle showdown, the coalition force was holding a slight upper hand.

In other words, the united army of Kanesadas, Centuriae, and Kamuys were winning slightly.

The reason was simple. The three hundred Legions in the British back ranks had not participated in this contest of volley fire.

The black carcasses of the British Knights of the Garter kept crashing down one after another.

Naturally, the three hundred black knights did not remain still. They drew their bows and nocked their arrows of light, launching an archery offensive from the back.

"All archers, I am counting on you again."

Responding to Edward's command, the Garter Knights began to fire repeatedly at high speed.

Draw, nock, loose. Arrows flew with the sound of tearing wind.

Such was the nature of bows and arrows as a weapon, unlike rifles that shot with a pull of the trigger. The contraptions of modern convenience could fire at ten shots per second, while the English longbow could only reach a maximum rate of one or two arrows every ten seconds.

However, these arrows of light were capable of piercing protective barriers.

Even with their radiant glow for defense, the Legions of the coalition army could not stop the black knights' arrows.

Furthermore, the Garter Knights in the front rank had formed a "wall" to protect the three hundred black longbowmen, completely preventing the coalition army from retaliating against the back ranks.

Enabling the longbowmen to focus on firing was the essence of "mode anglais."

The marksmen in the back ranks raised their longbows at an angle to release their arrows. Tracing out parabolic trajectories, the arrows hurtled towards the coalition army's position.

One after another, many Legions, red-purple, silver-white, or blue in color, were shot down by the arrows.

They were clearly dying much faster than the British black knights. The British Empire's side was still superior in a shooting match...

However, the coalition army was not to be outdone.

Using an echelon formation, the Tōkaidō-Roman coalition's left column stood out especially.

The Kanesadas assigned to the left side were flying slightly faster than the Centuriae in the center and the Kamuys on the right.

With the left wing ahead, the entire army formed a diagonal "\" shape.

In contrast, the Garter Knights on the enemy side were in the shape of a horizontal "-" line.

In a minute or two, the front rank of the black knights were going to clash with the leading Kanesadas head on.

"Kanesadas&mdash;the two hundred of you in the front&mdash;Draw your swords and charge."

"I knew it would come to this. Focus the rain of arrows on the advance party. Do not let them succeed, or else the samurai swords will disrupt our formation."

The army of Kanesadas at the top left of the diagonal were many ranks deep.

The two hundred at the forefront accelerated and charged, causing the unit to protrude even further, closing in on the Garter Knights in one go.

The bayonet rifles in their hands all turned into the famed sword, Izumi-no-Kami Kanesada.

The Kanesada unit with drawn swords must serve as the vanguard to approach and cut down the British Legions, thereby disrupting the enemy's packed formation by creating numerous dead bodies.

Once a packed formation began to break, all that was needed was to focus attacks at the breach and the formation's collapse would be inevitable.

However, arrows continue to rain down.

The longbowmen of the Garter Knights focused their fire, trying to annihilate the Kanesada vanguard that had their swords drawn. The red-purple Legions swung their Japanese swords, deflecting the rain of arrows.

Blades and arrows clashed.

Almost a month ago, the Kanesadas led by Masatsugu had used the same method to defend against English longbows many times.

However, the situation today was different from last time.

"Tsk."

"Sure enough, the enemy is fatigued."

Masatsugu clicked his tongue whereas Edward grinned.

The Kanesadas' swordsmanship was clearly disorderly, lacking their original acuity.

Normally, Shinsengumi swordsmanship was capable of blocking the vast majority of arrows, but today, one out of every two arrows met their mark...

Dozens of Kanesadas crashed down from the sky, heavily damaged.

"Transporting the ''Tintagel'' was an excessive drain, huh?" Edward chuckled.

Odawara's shore was roughly sixteen or seventeen kilometers from Lake Ashi. Masatsugu had ordered his Kanesadas to fly while carrying a 183m-long large destroyer. Of course, this consumed substantial ectoplasmic fluid.

For Legions, this depletion of ectoplasmic fluid was equivalent to fatigue in humans.

No longer sharp in swordsmanship, the Kanesadas kept making mistakes they would not normally make.

"My archers, no need to pity them. Shoot with all your might."

Edward told his troops that this was the chance for victory.

The merciless rain of arrows kept slaughtering the red-purple swordsmen, inflicting substantial damage to the fatigued Kanesadas.

In the end, over half of the vanguard died before they could engage the enemy.

Even so, the echelon formation's sword-wielding vanguard finally approached the horizontal line of Garter Knights&mdash;

"All units, draw your swords. Show the enemy Hijikata Toshizō's swordsmanship."

In the ensuing battle, the famed blade and Hijikata Toshizō's swordsmanship were of paramount importance.

The remaining four hundred and seventy or so Kanesadas entered the flat seigan stance and rushed at the British black knights, the Black Prince's personal guard.

Unexpectedly...

"Shame be to him who thinks ill of it&mdash;The hundred of you engaging the red-purple Legions in the front, make use of shields."

The Black Prince recited holy words to invoke a Feat of Arms of the shield.

The Garter Knights and the katana-wielding Kanesadas clashed head on. The short inscription of "Honi soit qui mal y pense," resembling Latin, appeared on each shield wielded by the Garter Knights. 

"My knights, you are protected by the insignia of the garter. Now raise your shields of justice to triump over evil!" "

The Garter Knights resisting the Kanesadas head on were one hundred out of the entire army.

Their armaments transformed from the standard bayonet rifle to ''rectangular shields''&mdash;not English longbows. The shields were almost the size of a Legion's body.

This was another of the Black Prince's trump cards and it had successfully defended against Tennen Rishin Style swordsmanship before.

However, the Kanesadas had no choice but to soldier on. Masatsugu ordered them calmly, "Forget about defense&mdash;Go."

A hundred British Legions had given up their rifles for offense to raise up giant shields.

In that case, there was no need to strike a balance between offense and defense. Just attack with the strongest slash at full strength. The Kanesadas swung their swords to chop at the "black knights with raised shields"&mdash;They used the stance of ''hassou''.

The so-called hassou was a type of upper stance with the sword. Gripping the hilt, one would raise both hands to mouth level.

The vertical sword's tip would point at the sky and the clouds, thus in Tennen Rishin Style, its nickname was "the cloud-oriented sword"...

"Cut them down with all your might."

The Kanesadas kept chopping at the hundred shield-wielding Garter Knights.

They focused all their strength on their one sword strike without thinking about defense or follow up attacks.

However, the Japanese swords were almost always blocked by the shields of the holy knights. Some of the Japanese swords managed to cut into the shield's steel, but they were rare exceptions.

"Hohohoho, are samurai swords only capable of this much?"

"Try harder. You are the troops led by the man known as 'The Merciless.' If this is all you've got, watch out for the mockery you'll face in hell."

The commander of the holy knights smiled whereas the Merciless Vice-Commander calmly ordered the attack.

Responding to Masatsugu's orders, the Kanesadas lived up to their names as "demoniac children of the gods." Using hassou slashes, they attacked from behind their failed comrades or went over the heads of the troops in front of them&mdash;Fresh red-purple swordsman rushed out nonstop.

As for the Garter Knights, they raised their giant shields to cover their entire body.

The Kanesadas used their own bodies to smash into the shields or kicked to throw the British Legions off balance. Then seizing the opportunity, swordsmen from behind would rush forward, using their deadly swords to leave mortal wounds on the British Legion's body.

This method of fighting lacked the exquisite skill sought by the spirit of Japanese swordsmanship.

Instead, it more resembled "well-coordinated thugs used to street fighting in large groups."

This method of slaughtering enemies was unique to the Feat of Arms of Izumi-no-Kami Kanesada inherited from the Shinsengumi Vice-Commander Hijikata Toshizō. During a chaotic battle, one could not rely exclusively on ''skillful swordsmanship''.

At the same time, this offensive was also planned by Masatsugu.

"Impressive as always, Tachibana-dono. Does the oblique formation take credit for this fierce offensive?" Edward muttered from the back of the British army.

While the soldiers in the front were locked in combat, troops in the back would rush forward to deliver a second strike, and a third, etc, fighting relentlessly to break the enemy formation&mdash;

Putting elite troops in a column with deep ranks had this effect.

And currently in a column, the katana-wielding Kanesadas had turned into a sword's tip to stab into the line of Garter Knights.

At this rate, the black knights' formation would not last for long.

However, the Black Prince had expected this as soon as he saw the enemy's oblique formation.

He said, "I knew long ago... You are a famed general capable of thrusting your samurai sword at my throat. Naturally, as a knight, I have prepared retaliatory measures as well."

Edward was flying on a wyvern mount.

He looked down at the melee battle taking place between the two armies. The Tōkaidō-Roman coalition in echelon formation was currently fighting the line of Garter Knights.

The protruding left side of the echelon formation was clashing violently with the right side of the line in a chaotic battle.

However, the other soldiers were separated by dozens to a hundred or so meters, and were exchanging gunfire without entering the chaotic battle at all.

Edward calmly observed the battle situation.

He was watching the melee contest between samurai and black knights.

Breaking through at that point would instantly overturn the battle situation&mdash;

"Upon a knight's honor... Pierce them."

The Plantagenet prince issued the order for death.

The three hundred Garter Knights in the back had been focused on firing their bows so far. Their armaments spontaneously turned back into the normal bayonet rifles.

Rising by a height of four hundred meters, they occupied the sky over the echelon formation.

The Black Prince commanded sonorously, "Knights of the Garter, charge at full speed with all your might!"

Edward had ordered a cavalry charge.

The cavalry charge was the favorite tactic of Richard the Lionheart.

Using the bayonets as "cavalry lances," the Legions flew towards the enemy at maximum speed to pierce Legion armor with the sharp blades. The impact and momentum of the charge was able to scatter the enemy. A so-called cavalry charge was to use hundreds or thousands of troops to conduct such an attack offensive&mdash;

This time, three hundred Garter Knights were used to launch a cavalry charge.

Unconcerned with harming friendly forces, Edward went as far as to issue a cruel order that attacked them as well.

The black meteors crashed towards the left wing of the echelon formation from four hundred meters above!

At the same time, Masatsugu issued a new order.

He could not help but smile when he saw that the enemy general was just as insane as he was. In a certain way, this also meant that they were truly good rivals.

"So we both came up with similar tactics..."

Immediately...

The Kanesadas and the Garter Knights that had started a melee battle, as well as the black knights charging at them, friend and foe alike&mdash;All of them were caught in an attack from the side.

This wave of attacks came from rifle fire of the hundreds of Centuriae and Kamuys on the Tōkaidō side.